We’ve all looked on in awe at Samsung’s almost bezel-less Galaxy series, wishing for a more affordable option. Well, you’re in luck as this year we are seeing an influx of budget-orientated manufacturers step-up and produce their own bezel-less phone options.

In this roundup, we’ll take a look at some of the top bezel-less phones of 2016 that are either available now, set to be released soon or are still hot on the rumour mill. If you’ve heard of a great bezel-less phone that I’ve missed and that’s set for release this year, let me know in the comments below and I’ll update this article.

Let’s get to it. Here’s the 2016 Top 5 Bezel-less phones.

Ulefone Future

No one can deny that the Ulefone Future has borrowed it looks from the all mighty iPhone but it’s taken a step further by offering us a bezel-less screen which makes this phone look nothing short of cutting edge-less. Add to this, some impressive hardware specifications and a side-placed fingerprint reader and you’re definitely going to get a unique futuristicexperience with the Ulefone Future.

Elephone P9000 Edge (Bezel-less)

Not to be confused with the P9000 or P9000 lite which are both available with narrow bezels, the P9000 edge uses curved glass and displays no visible borders when viewed face on. Elephone have been keeping details of the P9000 Edge under wraps so far with only a few pictures and videos leaked of the device.

I have a hunch that Elephone are either; capitalising on sales of the P9000, with its thin bezels, before releasing the bezel-less ‘edge’ version or that their development team still have software issues to overcome before being able to release the P9000 Edge.

A third option that we have to consider is that the P9000 edge is just a marketing ploy by Elephone to increase brand awareness although a sources say that the completely bezel-less P900 does exist.

It’s likely to have similar hardware to the P9000, so I’ve listed the current specifications below although these may change before launch.

ZTE Nubia Z9

The Nubia Z9’s curved glass edges and almost borderless display combine to make one sexy looking smartphone. The beautifully vivid IPS display and glass sandwich design gives the Z9 a premium look and feels suited to a flagship smartphone.

Add to this some impressive photography capabilities and that glowing halo home button and the Nubia Z9 becomes even more impressive.

Although the Z9 was released in 2015, it’s still a great bezel-less option for 2016 if you can manage to get your hands on one. I’ve not had much luck finding online retailers that still have stock available. Currently, Nubia are focussing more on the Z9 Max 5.5″ version and the Z9 mini, but neither have the finesse or bezel-less edges of their older trend-setting brother the Nubia Z9.

Hopefully, Nubia will make a return to the bezel-less arena soon with another flagship model.

Oppo Bezel-free phone

A while back now, there was a video leaked of a new Oppo smartphone that appears to have a bezel-less design. The phone in question uses a wrap around front glass effect so we can’t be entirely certain whether this is a trick of the eye. You can see the Oppo Bezel-less video here. We haven’t had confirmation from Oppo whether they will release any phones with this technology this year but with the competition hotting up I think it’s likely we will towards the end of the year.

We haven’t had confirmation from Oppo whether they are going to release any bezel-less phones this year but with the competition hotting up I think it’s we will see the mysterious Oppo phone resurface towards the end of the year.

The Oppo Find 7 Plus at first glance gives the illusion of an entirely bezel-less phone but this illusion ends as soon as the screen is active where you can clearly see black borders.

I’ll update this with more information when we find out more on whether Oppo plans to release a genuinely bezel-less smartphone.

The technology behind Bezel-free phones

You might be wondering why it’s taken manufacturers so long to catch up with Samsung and produce budget variants of the bezel-less screen? Let’s break it down into two reasons.

Reason number 1 is the cost & research needed to produce bezel-less technology.

A company such as Samsung has the money, resources & research to be able to create new types of technology such as an entirely border-less wrap-around screen. Smaller mobile manufacturers tend to outsource their parts which means they have to wait for 3rd party suppliers to innovate before catching up with the market leaders.

Reason number 2 is that manufacturers have had to create their own bezel-less software.

If you remove a smartphone screen bezel entirely, you then create another set of problems to overcome. When holding a phone, your hands will be gripping the edges of the screen slightly. On a phone with bezels, this is not a problem as you have an area on no-touch at the sides of the mobile screen. On a bezel-less phone, the screen will be registering these extra touches. To combat this, mobile manufacturers need to develop software that will recognise the difference between your hand gripping the phone and your hand trying to use the phone.